1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an electric iron including a heater and a cord electrically connected to the heater, in which the cord for supplying electric power to the heater is directly rewound from an electric iron body, and more particularly, to an electric iron provided with a cord reel device compact in size, in which the cord can be easily accommodated in a cord casing mounted on the electric iron when the electric iron is not in use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, electric irons are provided with cords connected to heaters for heating base portions thereof. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,030,485 discloses such an electric iron as referred to above in which an attachment plug to be inserted into a plug socket is fixed to one end of a cord and the electric iron is used, with the electric iron being connected to the plug socket through the cord. Meanwhile, ironing is generally performed by moving the electric iron in an irregular manner such that clothes are pressed on an ironing board having a proper area. The cord of the electric iron is required to have a length sufficient for displacement of the electric iron such that a range of the displacement of the electric iron is not restricted extremely. Generally, the length of the cord of each of the electric irons ranges from 6 to 8 feet.
Conventionally, in electric irons, it has been so arranged that the electric iron is kept in custody after completion of ironing with the cord being folded compactly. However, the known electric irons have such inconveniences that the cord may be damaged due to contact with a portion of the electric iron still having a rather high temperature. Due to such damage to the cord its appearance is ugly. Furthermore, the known electric irons have a disadvantage in that, since the cord is maintained at a predetermined length during ironing, the length of the cord is too long in the case where a small article is ironed, thus reducing working efficiency of the electric iron.
In order to eliminate such a disadvantage as referred to above, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,593,442 discloses an electric iron in which the cord is wound around the electric iron body, while Japanese Utility Model Publications No. 28080/1973 (Jikkosho 48-28080) and No. 39519/1981 (Jikkosho 56-39519) disclose an electric iron in which the cord is wound around a drum provided in the electric iron. The prior art electric irons referred to above enable the cord to be accommodated neatly but have been disadvantageous in that, since the cord is required to be wound around the electric iron body or the drum manually, it is time-consuming and troublesome to wind the cord of 6 to 8 feet in length around the electric iron body or the drum completely. Furthermore, the known electric irons have such inconveniences that, since the cord of 6 to 8 feet in length is required to be wound uniformly while correcting kinks produced during ironing, winding of the cord is difficult and a cord casing for accommodating such a cord must be large in size, thus reducing operability of the electric irons.
Moreover, in order to mitigate the drawback of the prior art electric irons associated with manual winding of the cord, German Laid Open Patent Application (Offenlegungsschrift) No. 2,837,467 proposes an electric iron in which a cord reel employing a spring means is provided such that the cord is automatically wound into the cord reel. In comparison with the foregoing prior art electric irons, this known electric iron is an improvement in that the cord can be accommodated easily by simply pressing a button. However, this known electric iron has such a structural inconvenience that the spring means for applying a rotational force to the drum is not coaxial with a rotary shaft of the drum. Furthermore, this known electric iron has such a disadvantage that, since a large space for accommodating the cord is provided therein, the cord casing for accommodating the cord therein is exceedingly large, thereby reducing working efficiency of the electric iron. Since the cord is rewound from the cord casing during ironing, the cord casing which is not required during ironing is secured to a portion adjacent to a handle grip so as to project outwardly from the grip to a large extent, thus reducing operability of the electric iron. Thus, it is concluded that, although this known electric iron is improvement in some respects, this known electric iron is not suitable for practical use.